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Highway reopened after fire at Port Coquitlam, B.C., train yard

Homes and businesses near a Canadian Pacific Railway yard in Port Coquitlam, B.C., were evacuated after a truck and a train car collided Monday night, sparking a large fire.

No injuries from fire caused by collision between train and truck at Canadian Pacific Railway yard

CBC News · Posted: Jan 22, 2018 7:11 PM PT | Last Updated: January 23

Flames shoot up into the sky after a train collided with a truck hauling ethanol. (Shane MacKichan/Canadian Press)

The Lougheed Highway has reopened after a large fire sparked by a collision between a truck and train car Monday night.

Homes and businesses near a Canadian Pacific Railway yard in Port Coquitlam, B.C., were evacuated after the collision, which happened at 6:35 p.m.

There were no injuries, city staff said in a statement Monday night, and Canadian Pacific says there are no toxic materials on the train.

Port Coquitlam fire Chief Nick Delmonico said the evacuations mostly affected businesses in the area, which were shuttered from Shaughnessy Street to Coast Meridian Road on Lougheed Highway and along part of the Mary Hill Bypass.

The city said on Twitter that Lougheed Highway — a major route through the city that divides the north and south sides of town — was closed between Shaughnessy Street and the Oxford Connector.

While the chief said Monday evening that no homes had been evacuated, a spokesperson for the city later said about 200 people were ordered from their homes. Residents were allowed to return around 10 p.m.

While toxic chemicals were not a concern, Delmonico said, further explosions were.

"CP crews are responding to the incident, working closely with local police and local fire," a spokesperson wrote. "Public and employee safety will be the primary focus as crews continue to respond."

Pictures from the scene on social media showed a sizeable blaze.

More footage I took from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortCoquitlam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PortCoquitlam</a> rail yard fire <a href="https://t.co/GipHEXFYsy">pic.twitter.com/GipHEXFYsy</a>

Corrections

A previous version of this story reflected incorrect information given by the City of Port Coquitlam that a CN Rail train was involved. The city later issued a correction that it was in fact a Canadian Pacific train. The city also stated in tweets that a radius of 800 metres around the fire was an evacuation zone. A city spokesperson later said that the term radius was incorrect and it was actually an 800 metre stretch of Lougheed Highway.